2018’s First Half Sees $1.1 Billion in Crypto Stolen

CNBC had reported that Carbon Black, a cyber-security company, had revealed that $1.1 billion worth of cryptocurrency was stolen just in the first half of this year.

According to Carbon Black, criminals use the dark web to commit large-scale robberies. Around 12,000 marketplaces with 34,000 crypto-theft offerings are available for hackers’ use.

The company noted that the malware marketplace is worth around $6 million. Basic malware costs $220 on average. Oftentimes, the products come with customer support.

Carbon Black Security Strategist Rick McElroy noted that while these crypto thefts can be done by criminal gangs, they are often done by a “highly-trained engineer” looking for some extra income. Crypto-theft is a fairly “easy” thing to do:

“You have nations that are teaching coding, but there’s no jobs. It could just be two people in Romania needing to pay rent.”

Commenting on the lack, or absence even, of institutional support and protection given to crypto holders, McElroy says:

“Usually we rely on banks, the tools are out there but investors need to know how to do this. A lot of people are unaware in this new gold rush, people are using cloud wallets and not securing their money.”

The report also notes that crypto exchanges received 27% of all the attacks this year, making them the most popular targets.